Foot protector



Jan. 11, 1944.

w. E. CROFUT, JR

FOOT PROTECTOR Filed Jan. 30, 1943 INVENTOR William E. Crofut Jr.

ATTORN EYS Patented Jan. 11 1944 UNITED STATES ATENT OFFICE Claims.

This invention relates to foot protecting slippers which are adapted to be worn inside a shoe and to be concealed by the shoe, and is a continuation-in-part of application Serial Number 458,355, filed September 15, 1942.

One of the main objects of the present invention is to provide a concealed slipper which effectively prevents chafing of the foot against the interior of a shoe.

A further object is to provide a very low slipper which has a body portion of flimsy stockin fabric and which is so constructed that the formation of folds or wrinkles in the fabric within a shoe is prevented.

A further object is to provide a pro iv ipper of simple and inexpensive construction.

With the above and other objects in view the invention may be said to comprise a slipper as illustrated in the accompanying drawing hereinafter described and particularly set forth in the appended claims, together with such variations and modifications thereof as will be apparent to one skilled in the art to which the invention pertains.

Reference should be had to the accompanying drawing forming a part of this specification, in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation showing the slipper of the present invention on a foot;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the slipper;

Fig. 3 is a plan view showing the two identical pieces of stocking fabric from which the body of the slipper is formed; and

Fig. 4 is a perspective View of the form-retaining heel cup to which the stocking fabric body is attached.

Reference to the accompanying drawing will show the slipper of the present invention has a body comprising a foot-receiving toe portion H and a shank [2 which is formed of a stretchable stocking fabric, which is preferably a knit fabric such as lisle. The rear end of the shank I2 is attached to a heel cup which comprises a substantially flat heel seat [3 and a counter I4. The heel seat and counter are constructed of a material which is flexible but stiff enough to provide a form-retaining heel cup.

The material of the heel cup should be stiff enough to keep its original shape and yet be flexible enough to conform to the heel without discomfort to the wearer. It should also be resilient so that the heel seat and counter will spring back to substantially the original form when released after flexing. A woven fabric stiffened with a suitable filler may be employed. One

such fabric known as Swavel, having a woven body impregnated with an organic adhesive or tacky composition, such as latex, rubber, reclaimed rubber, pyroxalin or the like, and having a flocked surface, has been found to be quite satisfactory.

The heel seat and counter may be separate pieces of fabric sewed together along the side and rear ends of the heel seat and along the bottom edge of the counter, as indicated at :5 in the drawing. The counter I4 is highest at the rear end of the heel seat and has forward edges l6 which taper to the forward end of the heel seat [3.

The slipper body may be formed of two identical pieces of fabric H, as shown in Fig. 3 of the drawing. The fabric pieces I! have rounded forward end portions which when sewed together form the toe portion H of the slipper, the two pieces of fabric ll being sewed together along a seam l8 which extends centrally from the heel seat along the sole portion of the slipper and over the top of the toe H. The two fabric pieces ll have reentrantly curved side edges 19 and tapering rear end portions 29 which are adapted to be sewed to the heel seat l3 and counter [4 along the forward edge of the heel seat I3 and along the tapering edges ll; of the counter The curved edges [9 which form the opposite side edges of the shank I2 are reinforced by a hem 2| which may have a thin elastic band 22 therein. The shank I2 is relatively narrow with its narrowest portion 23 located substantially centrally of the instep. As shown in Fig. 1, the width of the narrowest portion of the shank is but slightly greater than the width of the foot at the instep, and when the slipper is on the foot the reinforced edges I9 of the shank l2 extend upwardly and forwardly from the narrow portion 23 over the foot and upwardly and rearwardly from the narrow portion to their points of attachment to the counter I4, the shank l2 tapering forwardly from the heel cup and rearwardly from the toe portion. The forward portions of the counter I 4 are normally spread apart above the heel seat as these portions taper from the edge I6 downwardly to the heel seat l3.

The sewing of the two fabric pieces ll together along the central seam l8 provides a fullness in the sole portion of the body, as is shown in Fig. 2 of the drawing. This fullness is taken up when the slipper is placed upon the foot. the knit stocking fabric being stretchable to permit the toe portion H to conform to the foot of the wearer, and this stretching of the fabric puts the reinforced edges I9 under tension so that the narrow portion 22 of the shank is under transverse tension and is drawn upwardly into engagement with the instep, as shown in Fig. 1. The tension on the edges [9 also serves to draw the counter I4 toward vertical position and against the sides of the heel of the wearer.

By providing a form-retaining heel an effective anchor is provided for the flimsy body portion of the slipper so that all of the body portion is held snugly against the foot and creeping or wrinkling of the stocking fabric within the shoe is prevented. The sewing operations are very simple and can be rapidly performed on conventional sewing machines.

It is to be understood that variations and modifications of the specific devices herein shown and described for purposes of illustration, may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What I claim is:

l. A protective slipper having a form-retaining heel cup comprising a heel seat and a counter of flexible but resilient material, and a body of stretchable stocking fabric which has a foot-receiving toe portion and a rearwardly extending shank which is attached at its rear end to the forward edges of the heel seat and counter, said shank having its narrowest portion at the instep and tapering from the toe portion and counter to the narrowest portion.

2. A protective slipper having a form-retaining heel cup comprising a heel seat and a counter of flexible but resilient material, and a body of stretchable stocking fabric which has a footreceiving toe portion and a rearwardly extending shank which is attached at its rear end to the forward edges of the heel seat and counter, said shank having its narrowest portion at the instep and tapering from the toe portion and counter to the narrowest portion, said body having a reinforced marginal edge extending from opposite sides of the heel cup and over the open end of the toe portion, said marginal edge being under tension when the slipper is worn and exerting a transverse tension on the shank to hold the shank against the instep.

3. A protective slipper having a form-retaining heel cup comprising a heel seat and counter of flexible but resilient material, and a stretchable knit fabric body having a foot-receiving toe portion and a relatively narrow shank extending rearwardly from the toe portion and attached to the forward edge portions of the heelcup and counter.

4. A protective slipper having a form-retaining heel cup comprising a heel seat and counter of flexible but resilient material, and a stretchable knit fabric body having a foot-receiving toe portion and a relatively narrow shank extending rearwardly from the toe portion and attached to the forward edge portions of the heel cup and counter, said shank tapering rearwardly from the toe portion and forwardly from said heel cup and being but slightly wider than the foot of the wearer at the instep, said shank having reinforced edges which are under tension when the slipper is on a foot and which exert a transverse tension on the shank to hold the same against the instep.

5. A protective slipper having a form-retaining heel cup comprising a substantially flat heel seat and a counter sewed along its bottom edge to the rear end and sides of said heel seat, said counter having side portions tapering to the forward end of the heel seat, said counter and heel seat being formed of flexible but resilient material, and a flimsy and stretchable fabric body sewed at its rear end to the forward edge portions of the heel seat and counter, said body having a foot-receiving toe portion at its forward end and a rearwardly extending shank which tapers from the toe portion and from its rear end to a narrow portion which is located substantially at the center of the instep when the slipper is on a foot, the narrow portion of the shank being but slightly wider than the foot at the instep, said body having a reinforced elastic marginal edge which is under tension when the slipper is being worn and which applies a transverse tension to the shank to hold the same against the instep.

WILLIAM E. CROFUT, JR. 

